My opinion of the rifle is this...clean it good, especially the chamber, shoot middle groung loads in it if you handload. Anything factory will work EXCEPT the Light Magnum/Superperformance/Enhanced velocity offerings. When I handloaded for these (or any gas semi-auto) I wound up halfway between listed starting and listed max loads and never had any problems. Again, keep the rifle clean, especially the chamber. This is not a battle rifle. It was designed as a hunting arm, and fills that purpose well.

While 742s were reliable and very serviceable rifles, some problems that arise are:
* They develop serious headspace issues and receiver wear, which make them unfixable jam-o-matics.
* The rifle has not been produced in about 30 years, so just about any 742 you come across is already pretty tired.
* While some parts are available, many are not, and Remington Service Centers routinely turn 742s away as unrepairable. This does not mean they cannot be fixed at all, just that you may end up putting a lot of money into a rifle that is not really worth it.

Had a 742 in .243 for awhile. With factory ammo and stock mags it was 100% reliable. With reloads I had trouble getting it to function using RCBS small base dies. With aftermarket 10 round mags it was unreliable. As an after thought I often think I should of tried some other brand of small base dies for my reloads and I might of been alright. I liked the gun, it was decent in the accuracy department with handloads and it handled well but went down the road anyway due to the issues.

Well, for $250 or $300 you can try one and see. Even though they are old I doubt a large percentage ever left the closet other than a once a year deer hunt. I know of several in that category. Seems like some claim they always jam and some say they never jam. It's not like it's big money loser to play with.

I had one along time ago. I did not reload at the time. The rifle always worked for me. But having read what some have advised that I really respect in there knowledge I probably would pass on it. Just being old is one, not that it cant be fixed. A few of them really know there stuff, and I would take there advise, and check it out till your satisifed on what you do. It would be a pass for me, but that is only me.

I had one in .243 for a while... good little gun, shot not too bad. The thing I have been told to look for is really quite simple. If you hold the action open look into the reciever and on the side opposite the ejection port. There is a steel rail type thing in there. If it is worn and beat up looking the rifle has been fired a lot and is nearing then end of its useful life and will become the dreaded jam-o-matic.

The one I had was pretty good overall... only jammed a couple of times.

I've had a 742 in 308 since
1973, never has given me a
problem.I just hold on a deer
and if I do my part DRT. I really
didn't pay attention to all these
negative comments.
I"m gonna get rid of it before she starts jamming.
My uncle up in washington cty Me has one
that he bought before the bolt or thread angle
change. goes bang all the time. another 308.

My grandmother passed me her Remington Woodsmaster 740 recently, circa 1955. It runs quite well on factory ammunition, I don't reload 30-06 so I can't speak to that facet. I get 2 MOA out of it with Winchester CT ammo. I've yet to have it jam on me, but after detail stripping it, I can see how the gas system could be problematic as parts wear. However, my reference 740 has 50 years of hunting under its belt and is not badly worn.

Remington has sold over a million of the 740/742/7400/750 line of rifles, all essentially the same. Amazingly you hear little about them, either there are a lot of them sitting in closets or they aren't all bad.

It's worth mentioning that these are hunting rifles, not long range precision sniper rifles, or high volume battle rifles. The capability for rapid fire is there, but the rifle/barrel is not designed to handle it.

Ya know I find it interesting that the shooters here that favor the 742 even slightly all list examples, loads, show pics, list accuracy results, etc. The people that don't favor the 742 ONLY post short, 1 sentence responses against the gun. Makes me think that the ones that are calling them jamomatics, junk, etc. are just regurgitating internet BS and have zero personal experience with the gun. You want to call em junk back it up with fact and info, otherwise your opinion is useless.

My post will be short again but I've had 2 in 30-06, bought one that looked like hell for $75.00 and it worked pretty good. bought another that looked very good for $150.00 and wouldn't function with any consistency with any ammo. i'd buy another for cheap but wouldn't pay much on that gamble.

__________________
"Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress, but I repeat myself." Mark Twain

The people that don't favor the 742 ONLY post short, 1 sentence responses against the gun. Makes me think that the ones that are calling them jamomatics, junk, etc. are just regurgitating internet BS and have zero personal experience with the gun. You want to call em junk back it up with fact and info, otherwise your opinion is useless.

They are prone to jamming. I know a guy who uses his as a single shot. Why would you think that anyone is making this stuff up? What reason would a person have to embellish jamming guns? I can think of at least three people that I have hunted with over the years that have owned this model and had it jam on them very frequently.

Ya know I find it interesting that the shooters here that favor the 742 even slightly all list examples, loads, show pics, list accuracy results, etc. The people that don't favor the 742 ONLY post short, 1 sentence responses against the gun. Makes me think that the ones that are calling them jamomatics, junk, etc. are just regurgitating internet BS and have zero personal experience with the gun. You want to call em junk back it up with fact and info, otherwise your opinion is useless.

There ya go....

Quote:

I can think of at least three people that I have hunted with over the years that have owned this model and had it jam on them very frequently.

...and I can think of 7, including myself, right off the top of my head that I have personally hunted with and only 1 had issues that were easily resolved with a good cleaning and chamber polish. Gun was just cruddy from neglect. Several different calibers covered too - 243, 270, 308, and a some '06s.

Ya know I find it interesting that the shooters here that favor the 742 even slightly all list examples, loads, show pics, list accuracy results, etc. The people that don't favor the 742 ONLY post short, 1 sentence responses against the gun. Makes me think that the ones that are calling them jamomatics, junk, etc. are just regurgitating internet BS and have zero personal experience with the gun. You want to call em junk back it up with fact and info, otherwise your opinion is useless.

Ok. I gave the short answer first, so here is the longer one...

I inherited a 742 from my grandfather that had LESS THAN A BOX of 30-06 shot through it. It jammed every 2 or 3 shots until it totally failed and the bolt would not close. I took it apart and replace some tiny springs in the action. It lasted about 3 shots and hung open again. I took it to a gunsmith and he "fixed it" for me. He told me that if you get a good one, you are lucky and you have a good gun, but most of them are jamomatics. He told me to buy a BAR if I wanted an automatic. I took it home, fired 2 shots and it jammed again. 1 shot later the bolt locked open AGAIN. I took it back and he "fixed it" again. I got it home and it jammed every couple shots. The next time I took it out, the bolt locked open again. I put it in the gun safe at the camp and that is where it will stay. I would not sell that POS to my worst enemy. Back in the day, everybody just about shot 742s because they were cheap. Not many used bolt actions then. My uncle had one that jammed all the time. My dad had one that jammed all the time. A friend of mine at work has one that actually works well. That is 25%. I don't like those odds.

Is that enough info for you? If not, next time I'm at the farm, I'll take a picture of that POS with the bolt hung open.

I bought my 742 30-06 Carbine, 18 1/2" barrel for 175 dollars, very lightly used, back around 1978. I have always used handloaded ammo for it. When I first started loading it I used IMR 4350 and it did not like that powder. I put the gun away and started using my bolt actions, bringing it out of the safe once in awhile. Over the years I've tinkered with it off and on and have found that a small base sizing die, middle of the road loading with 180 grain Remington Core Lokt Spitzers, and IMR 4064 gives very acceptable accuracy and functions at about 99%. It is a great handling rifle and I would be very comfortable with it out to 250 yards or so. As others have said, you must keep them clean and I don't shoot more than ten rounds without cleaning it. When the spent cases start looking dirty, time to stop shooting and give it a good cleaning.

The centerfire semi autos seem to be a regional thing... You don't see many autos out in my part of the world... That said, I still have heard more bad than good about the 742... With the 30-06 if you need five shots to kill a deer, then.... You need more practice...

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